Conveyer belt drive mechanism



Oct. 91945. H. E. KLEINTOP CONVEYER BELT DRIVE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 23, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTQR; Haz'aldlflemop,

- ATTORNEYS.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l ll x H. E. KLEINTOP Filed NOV. 25, 1943 CONVEYER BELT DRIVE MECHANISM .mw [QL @1 5 1111 l-- 0 www@ Oct. 9, 1945.

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N VEN TOR: l Haz'oid', I1 lez/21140, u

M ATTORNEYS.

AOld; 9, 1945. I H E, KLElNTOP 2,386,558 I yCONVEYER BELT DRIVE MECHNISM ATTORNEYS.

Patented oet. 9, 1945 i 1 'KorbePettitWire- Fabrics & Iron Works, Inc.,

.- j `Philadelphia;Pa.; a corporation ol?i Pennsyle l' 'vania- 1 7 Appl'i'cat'ion'neizmbf 23, 1943, serial No, 511,403-` v/ntionj A"mial1-sito mechanism OIT dliV- i118 conveyer beltS. vIt has reference more espe' ially to drive mechanism vuseful conveying systems vsuchnas ldisclosed in a Vcio-pending patentapplication, Serial No. 465,845 filed by me on November 1'?, 1942 7 andv issued as YPatent No.

f 2,352,840 on July 4, 1944, whereingawire mesh conveyer belt passesedgewiselabout guidewheels byv whichits course oftravel is. in part dened,

andnwherein certain of the Ygudewheels ser-ve aszdrivers for the belt..VV Under these conditions thefdriyingeffort is wholly' exerted' on one edge of the belt, with vresultant imposition.Y o f-` strains j present invention has 'for i its chief objec-A t'ending tor distort or twist it.'

l tive toxfovercome the. vdrawbacks above pointed out. This v[desideraturn II' attainy in practice- .as

Y hereinafter more fully lse't forth, through ,provision of an improved drive mechanism in which' synchronously-operated powered lsprocket chain caterpillar drive unitsfrictionally engage the op. posite side edges ofthev conveyer belt, with consequent uniform distribution of the strains in said belt 'so that distortion ,oi-. twisting cannotv occu r n` connection ,with drive mechanism having the foregoing attribute s','1 further aimxo pre1 clude, through provision lof siinplef-means'such as also hereinafter disclosed .for the purpose-slip' pagejbetween'the. contacting, surfacesof the caterpillar units vand the edges of. the vconveyer belt while at the same time iautomaticallyN compensating for wear as it occurs,

suspension of articlesA therefrom. The shafts I3 andl I4 of the guide wheels IIJ and II are journaled in ,upper and lower bearings E15 and I6 respectvely fixed to the' horizontals Il and' i8 of a structural iron framework I9 which may be suitably supported from overhead or otherwise. For

a reason which will bernanifested later, the guide wheel Il isv yarranged torotate freely aboutthe shaftr I4 between a'pair of collars` Ida, the guide wheel I Dbeing however xedly secured 'to its shaft I3. vThe belt IZQmay; be loi' any approved Otherobjectsand attendant advantagesA will appear from the following detailed description ofthe attached drawings.,v wherein Figuiis 'a horizontal section of a .conveyer belt Vdriving' mechanism conveniently embodyingV myinvem. tion; f

AFig. 2 is av detailview' in elevation loolsi'ng'las indicated by the angled arrows IL-II in Fig. ,1L Fig. 3 is a view partly in side elevation.and

partly in vertical section .taken Aas iridic'atedbyrv the angled arrows 11T-Ill in Fig. 1

Figl is a cross section taken as indicated the angled arrows IV-1V in Fig.l .1.

vgrooved to receive one edge o f the wire mesh belt conveyer I2 varrangedfor travel inv a horizontal y. Fig. 6 is adetail cross sectional view of one. of y Vplane'and providedlat intervals withhooks Hfor 5.5

, 45y Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken asindicated type capableof adapting itself to the guiderwheels I0 and II vas it `passes edgewisev aboutthem. Preferably itv is of the construction shown, and described in my co-pending patent. application hereinbefore referred to sagging of thebelt I2 incident to roundinggthe guide wheels lliy and IIV is prevented by pairs 'o f spaced sliperposed rollers 2li,y and l2I between which .the kouter edge ofthe belt passes,` saidrollers being journaled in brackets 22 and ,23 extending from the framework IS radially of the axes of ysaid wheels, see Figs. 1

Theidrivingmechanism with which my present invention. is more especially concerned includes a pair 'ot `caterpillar Y units respectively comprising comparativelyrshort endless tractor belts `in the form of chains 2 5 and 26 which are trained about sprocket wheels 21, 28`and 29, 39. 4As shown' in Fig. 3, the sprocket ywheels A 21, v28 are secured to the lower ends of vertical sha'ltsl,y 32 whichare journaled in fixed bearings 3 3. Aand 34 on a supplementalframe 35 rigidly secured tothe -horilzontal member 'I'Inofthe main supporting strucinstance, :that inthe interval between the guide wheel I0 andfII. Asrshown, tljl-eV resilient pads 36 areindividually vbraced by backing plates 31 replaceably secured,` together with upper and lower angle section guide pieces 38, to lugs 39 on the'chain links by screw bolts 50. (From Figs. 1, 2 and 4 it will be noted that thebearings 45 and 4E 'for the shafts 41, 1'48 of the sprocket wheels 29, 30of the chain 23 are carried by a movable'supplemental frame 49. Reaching laterally inw'ardlfrom the supplemental framerll is a pair of transversely-spaced 'tongues 50 `vs rhich are slidably engaged in the longitudinal grooves of guides 5I secured to and projecting outward fromthe vixed supplemental frame 3 5. Attached respectively to laterally-spaced uprights ,52 and 53 of the fixed and movable supplemental frames 35 and 49 are T-section bars 54 and 55 (Figs. 1, 4 and 6) whereof the central ribs serve as tracks for the rollers of the inside runs of the chains 25 and 26 0f the two caterpillar units in the intervals -between the sprocket wheels 21, 28 and 29, 30. Extending from the fixed supplemental frame 35 centrally between the guides 5I and passing freely through a clearance aperture in a cross member 56 of the movable supplemental frame 49, is a rod l. The protruding end of this rod 51 is threaded and carries a hand wheel 58 whereof the hub is internally tapped to engage the rod threads; and disposed between the cross member 5B of the movable supplemental frame 49 and the hub of said hand wheel is a helical spring 59. The spring 59 is initially ,compressedy to a deiinite degree by means of the hand wheel 58 to yieldingly urge the movable supplemental frame 49 inward relative to the fixed supplemental frame 35 so that, through the track bars 54 and 55, the resilient pads 36 on the links of the chains 25 and 25 of the two caterpillar units are maintained in eifective gripping contact with the opposite side edges of the belt l2. The spring 59 also serves as a means to automatically compensate for wear between the contacting surfaces of the pads 36 and the belt edges. When necessary, further adjustments of the spring 59 may be made at suitable intervals. anism is operated in the illustrated instance through application of power by suitable means (not shown) to the shaft I4 and motion communicated from a sprocket B9 affixed to said shaft through a chain BI to sprocket pinions 62 and t3 respectively on the shafts 3| and 48 of the caterpillar chains '25 and 25. Through the medium of the idler E4, whereof the shaft E5 is journaled in bearings 66 on the movable supplemental frame 49, the chain 6| is so directed about the pinion E3 that the caterpillar chain 26 is driven hin a direction opposite to that of the caterpillar chain 25, as required. It is to be especially noted, that the belt I2 is advanced solely by the two caterpillar units and not restrained in any way by the guide wheels I9 and I l, since the shaft I3 of the former is freely rotatable in its bearings I5 and I6, and since the latter is loose on the shaft I4 between the collars I4a. It is to be further noted that the guide pieces 38 on the links of the tractor chains 25 and 26 serve to prevent deviation of the straight run of the conveyer belt I2 from a horizontal plane in the interval between the guide whe-els In and II. The intergearing of the two caterpillar chains 25 and 26 may of course be accomplished in other ways than herein exemplied if found more convenient or desirable in practice, and the power for driving applied at another point as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

While the drive mechanism of my present invention is particularly advantageous in connection with conveying systems such as disclosed in my co-pending patent application supra, it is of course not to be regarded as restricted to such use.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. Drive mechanism for a relatively wide transversely-rigid flat horizontal conveyer apron, comprising a pair of caterpillar units with horizontally-arranged grooved endless supporting tractor belts running in lateral frictional pressure driving contact with the opposite side edges of the apron; and means for driving the tractorV belts in unison so that their active runs move The drive mechl in the direction in which said apron is to be progressed.

2. Drive mechanism for a relatively wide transversely-rigid flat horizontal conveyer apron, comprising a pair of caterpillar units with horizontally-arranged endless supporting tractor belts; means for driving the tractorY belts in unison so that their active runs move in the direction in which the apron is to be progressed; and spring means operative transversely of the tractor belts for yieldingly maintaining their active runs in frictional pressure driving contact with the opposite side-edgesof the conveyer.

3. Drive mechanism for a relatively wid-e transversely-rigid flat horizontal conveyer apron, comprising a pair of caterpillar units with horizontally-arranged `endless supporting tractor belts; means for driving the tractor belts in unison so that their active runs move in the direction in which the apron is to be progressed; spring means operative transversely of the tractor belts for yieldingly maintaining their active runs in pressure driving contact with vthe opposite side edges of the apron; and means for regulating the spring means to adjust the pressure of said tractor belts upon the apron..

4. Drive mechanism for a relatively wide transversely-rigid at horizontal conveyer apron, lcomprising a pair of caterpillar units withhorizontally-arranged endless supporting tractor belts; means for driving the tractor belts in unison so that their active runs move in the direction in which the apron is to be progressed; fixed and movablebacking bars respectively for Vthe active runs of the tractor belts; and means forexerting pressure upon the movable .backing bars for maintenance of said belts yieldingly in frictional contact with the opposite side edges of the conveyer.

5. Drive mechanism for a relatively widetransversely-rigid flat horizontal conveyer apron, comprising a pair of caterpillar units with horizontally-arranged endless supporting tractor Vchains running in lateral frictional pressure driving contact with the opposite side edges of the apron; means for driving the tractor chains in unison so that their active runs move in the direction in which the apron is-to be progressed; and resilient pads on the links of said chains to directly contact the side edges of the apron.

6. Drive mechanism for a relatively wide transversely-rigid flat horizontal conveyer apron, comprising a pair of caterpillar units with horizontally-arranged endless supporting tractor chains running in lateral frictional pressure driving contact with the opposite side edges of the apron; means for driving the tractor belts in unison so that their active runs move in the direction in which the apron is to be progressed; resilient pads of rubber or the like on the lin-ks of the chains for directly contacting the side edges of the apron; and guide elements on said chain links overreaching the apron edges both above vand below.

7. Drive mechanism for a relatively wide flat transversely-rigid horizontal conveyer apron, comprising a pair of spaced vertical axis guide wheels with circumferential grooves for engaging an edge of the apron; a pair of horizontallyarranged caterpillar drive units with grooved endless tractor belts running in lateral frictional pressure contact with the opposite side edges of a straight run of the apron between the guide wheels; and gearing connections between one of the guide wheels and the tractor belts for actuating the belts in unison so that their active runs move in the direction in which'said conveyer is to be progressed. Y Y

8. Drive mechanism for a relatively wide-at horizontal apron conveyer of the character described trained to travel edgewise about a pair of spaced vertical axis guide wheels, said mechanism including a pair of horizontally-arranged caterpillar drive units with endless supporting tractor chains respectively running in lateral 10 pressure driving contact with the opposite side edges of a straight runof the apron conveyer between the guide wheels; and gearing connections between shafts whereon sprocket wheels for the respective tractor chains are mounted and a power shaft whereon one of the guide wheels is freely mounted, whereby the active runs of said tractor chains are motivated in unison in the same direction as the apron conveyer.

HAROLD E. KLEINTOP. 

